Im a little bummed to see Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel anchoring the list, though its not stunning. His ERA is outstanding, his K/BB ratio is excellent, and he has enough wins and shutouts. Blyleven toiled long and hard for the Twins in the 70s. Career Span/Primary Team(s) Player Wins Above Replacement; 1986-2007/Pirates, Giants: 178.3: 1984-2007/Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros: 133.9: 1991-2005/Astros Blyleven is arguably among the top 20-25 pitchers in baseball history. This included work for the Dodgers, Yankees and the Angels. As MLB.coms Andrew Simon noted, Allens career 156 league-adjusted OPS+ puts him in the very upper echelon of post-integration hitters, and his best 10-year run at the plate was pretty much unmatched by his peers. Research is still ongoing and well continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. As faithful baseball fans, we depend on the Hall of Fame to show us who the truly great players are. 1) Bert Blyleven (1970-1992) (287-250; 3.31 ERA; ERA+ 118; 60 SHO; 4970/ 4632 H/ 8.4 H/9; 3701 K/ 1322 BB/ 2.80 K/BB ratio; 1.198 WHIP). He ended up nostalgically back in Minnesota for the '86 season, and helped the team to the World Series title in '87. overall HOF average hitters are added to that position's average until He led the league in ERA+ and shutouts (nine) in '73, but didnt get the attention he deserved for the Cy Young award. Also, lets take a good look at our current candidate on this list and give him his due before it is too late, before the HOF voting body truly looks out of touch with what it takes to be in the Hall of Fame. When Pierce retired, sportswriters were distracted with the manic accomplishments of Koufax, Marichal and Gibson. Note that only Wilhelm posted a sub-2.00 ERA for five consecutive seasons in his 40s, and he did so while averaging 108 innings pitched per year. 6) Babe Adams (1906-1926) (194-140; 2.76 ERA; ERA+ 117; 2,995 IP/ 2,841 H/ 8.5 H/9; 1,036 K/ 4,30 BB/ 2.41 ratio; 1.092 WHIP). He holds the all-time record for relief appearances with at least two innings (486) and three innings (197). Most Unique Players by Age by Similarity Scores, Most Games without a World Series Appearance, Most Games without a Postseason Appearance, Highest Career and Single-Season Salaries, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. Tommy Bridges began and finished his career with the Detroit Tigers. That leaves an even matchup between McRae and Don Baylor on the outside looking in. 3) Tony Mullane (1881-1894) (284-220; 3.05 ERA; ERA+ 118; 30 SHO; 4,531 IP/ 4,195 H/ 8.3 H/9; 1,803 K/ 1,408 BB/ 1.28 ratio; 1.237 WHIP). Hoffman never won a Cy Young but finished second twice. In an era when everyone posts gaudy relief statistics, the trick is figuring out how rare and special Wagner really was. Join our linker program. For the most part, the best pitchers are in the HOF. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Teams can vary this somewhat . He is 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 36 Ks against only 8 BB, and a WHIP of 1.077. Honorable mentions: Kent, Bobby Grich (Chase Utley not yet eligible). 2.21 career ERA. In Gossages day, he did all of that. Its much easier to pitch one scoreless inning than to face the full lineup once or even twice. Do you have a sports website? Jim McCormick was the first Scottish born major league player. Miranda Remaklus. He was as automatic as youll ever find for a closer. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1978 Topps #703 ROOKIE PITCHERS PSA 9 90146083 at the best online prices at eBay! As it is, Pappas has 209 wins, as many as Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser, and a similar number to Don Drysdale and Catfish Hunter, all of whom are in the HOF and pitched between 1950 and 1975. Pierce got his chance to test his grit in postseason action in 62 for the Giants. What if Bucky Walters had started his career in Cincinnati rather than struggling in Philadelphia? His initial surgery came after the 1974 season. Luis Tiant was born in Cuba and his father was a famous pitcher for the Cuban national team. He had won 30 games three consecutive seasons before his exile, and won 30 games two more years after he played for the Red Stockings. Some historians have labeled the shorter career effect as the Smokey Joe Wood effect, referring to HOF pitchers whose career lengths were shorter than required for HOF inclusion, but whose careers made a significant impact and thus we're inducted. Incredibly, the Pirate management left him there until the end of the 18 season. He would also be the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame not to exceed 1,000 career innings pitched, which is a testament to the unique specialty role of being a modern closer. Blyleven had one more significant season in 89 for the California Angels, winning 17 games and Comeback Player of the Year award. I looked at some pitchers with shorter careers as well, and included some whose careers I thought made the greatest statements. Will pitched a very respectable 3500 innings, but crammed most of it into eight years of pitching. Get Jay Jaffe's book The Cooperstown Casebook I gave a list of 10 players at each position, based primarily on who I thought voters would expect to be in the poll. The voting body has become skewed in their view of starting pitching in recent decades. He would have been part of the best pitching staffs in historyPappas was still pitching great in '71 and '72. He had a 1.80 ERA after the age of 38. The 38 voters who gave Roger Clemens a ranking of 10 ranked Curt Schilling top, at 3.63 on average, followed by Tommy John at 4.18, and Luis Tiant at 4.24. In the 1970s, the closer was the pitcher that would enter the game with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and try to work out of a jam and then sometimes finish the game. But Beltrn gets the slight edge, given his enviable combination of power (435 homers), speed (312 steals), defense (three Gold Gloves) and postseason heroics. He perhaps would have a few more wins, without his career being interrupted, and perhaps some postseason success, as the Orioles became one of the best teams of the era, going to the World Series in '66, '69, '70, and '71. Is there any validity here? Players said they could hear the ball spinning as it approached and went by. Cooper teamed up with Babe Adams, another pitcher on this list, to make quite a pitching combination for the Pirates of this era. He shut down the powerful Reds lineup in the playoffs. Reulbachs 97-39 record combined with Browns 114-42 for a 211-81 record over those five years. And his .187 batting average allowed is the lowest of any retired relief pitcher. He led the NL in fewest H/9 and was second in WHIP, shutouts, and winning percentage. Honorable mentions: Bill Dahlen, Omar Vizquel, Jimmy Rollins, Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada, Jim Fregosi. Tommy was pitching in October for six consecutive seasons, posting a 6-3 mark with a 2.65 ERA over 88 innings. Warneke has more shutouts, a better K/BB ratio, and a better WHIP. As a teen he went to watch Sandy Koufax pitch and later learned how to throw a curve ball with a hold similar to Koufax. Bridges is only six wins shy of the requisite 200 to be considered for the HOF. Blyleven had tremendous stuff on the ball: fastball, curve and change-up. Only John Smoltz and Dennis Eckersley can say they were multi-time All-Star starting pitchers and then became dominant closers afterwards. Tony Mullane was just inducted into the Cincinnati Reds HOF earlier this year. 7 Andy Pettitte 3.7 Mariano Rivera was a failed starter. Today, its my pleasure to present how people voted on pitchers. In 34 he out-dueled Dizzy Dean to win 3-1. His career K/BB ratio of 2.80 is also a mark of historical significance. But even Michael Jordan missed game-winning shots. Theres no one since Randy Johnson who puts fear into batters like Aroldis Chapman does. His post season work began in 77 with the Dodgers, after his return from surgery. What do you think: Is Mariano Rivera the best relief pitcher in baseball history? From 1939-1946 Walters accumulated totals led the major leagues in wins, innings pitched; 2,030, complete games; 178, and ERA. Craig Kimbrels ranks among post-1900 pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched: Opponents batting average allowed: .158, H/9: 4.98 (1st), ERA+: 195, K/9: 14.61, opponents slugging percentage allowed: .257 (2nd). Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. It was 0.32 in the ALDS, 0.92 in the ALCS, and 0.99 in the World Series. Then with the Pirates down three games to one, he entered Game Five with the score tied in the 5th inning, and shut down the Orioles for the rest of the game, securing himself, and the Pirates, the win. It also includes "Black" Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte who is banned from baseball, and not eligible for the HOF. Rollie Fingers may be the most decorated relief pitcher in baseball history, and that list includes Mariano Rivera. Mack was referring to Jackson -- maybe the games most revered natural hitter before Williams came along -- whom Mack regrettably traded away before he became a star in Cleveland. With quick succession he sold or traded them to other teams. In the '40s he pitched with young pitchers Hal Newhowser, Virgil Trucks and Dizzy Trout. Plus, it just doesnt feel right that Alan Trammell is in the Hall without his double-play partner. Over a five-year span, he led the league in saves twice, finished in the top six in Cy Young award voting four times, and turned in one of the most dominant seasons in baseball history in 1990: 0.61 ERA, 48 saves, 73 K to 4 BB in 73.1 IP. He sustained his excellence late into his career. It is a decision many believe cost the Sox the title. Most impressively, he did all this without possessing a strong fastball, instead relying on one of the best changeups ever. Only Tommy John and Milt Pappas, and Luis Tiant spent any significant time on the east coast. And he never got a single Cy Young vote. McCormick was a pitcher of high quality who won 265 games. He went 3517 in the minors. Sabathia is at 3.5 right now. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to use on the short end, while looking for candidates to make our list of best pitchers not in the HOF. Bucky wasnt done there. Pierce pitched four scoreless innings in relief. Al Spalding took a disliking to the off-field activities of several of the players during the '86 campaign. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. He struck out a healthy 1,674 batters. After an off year in 1916 he was sent to the minor leagues to work out his problems. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1978 Topps #703 Jack Morris RC Rookie Pitchers NM at the best online prices at eBay! Honorable mention: Pete Rose, Manny Ramirez. Four of them (Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz and Frank Thomas) are already in the Hall following Big Papis election in 2022, while Nelson Cruz remains active. By the next year in 1939 he was the best pitcher in the National League, going 27-11 with a 2.29 ERA and 31 complete games. Reulbach used a high leg kick, a la Juan Marichal, to hide the delivery of the best curve ball of his generation. Its commonplace in todays game for a manager to turn to the bullpen as early as the sixth inning. Many of them were from the initial live ball era1921-1945. Feb 11, 2023. He was consistently excellent, winning between 15-20 games five consecutive years, and striking out between 219-258 batters for six consecutive years. 2 Johan Santana 5.1 Were there a clear consensus, someone would be closer to 1 here. Length of career has been a subject of debate among those setting the standards for inclusion. 15) Ed Reulbach (1905-1917) (182-106; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 123; 40 SHO; 2,632 IP/ 2,117 H/ 7.2 H/9; 1,137 K/ 892 BB/ 1.27 ratio; 1.143 WHIP). Four pitchers in the HOF fall into this categoryDizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Sandy Koufax, and Addie Joss. In 48 they discarded Billy Pierce to the White Sox!). Even though others have won Cy Young awards (and even regular season MVPs), Rivera was as close as youll find to a perfect closer, and he did this all with just the legendary cutter. He relented, signed with St. Louis, but they then shipped him off to the expansion Toledo Blue Stockings. My last article studied The Worst Pitchers in the HOF: Searching for Historys Bottom Line . LF: Barry BondsThis doesnt require much explanation; Bonds is the greatest player many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and he had accrued surefire Hall credentials before his alleged PED use clouded the picture. Stats: 601 saves, 2.87 ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 3.69 K:BB, 141 ERA+, Accolades: 7 All-Star appearances, Baseball Hall of Fame. His ERA of 1.97 in 55 gave him an ERA less than half that of the league (ERA+ 201). Note that some players listed as HOFers may have been inducted for non-playing reasons. Nothing in his pitching resume says he doesnt belong in the HOF. Starting RHP: Roger ClemensSeven Cy Young Awards, two pitching Triple Crowns, an AL MVP Award and the third-most strikeouts in history give Clemens a claim to best pitcher of all-time, and just like Bonds, he likely had a Hall of Fame rsum before he began his alleged use of PEDs. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. 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